Environment variables

`BETTERSENSE_WORK_REFLECTIONS_HOME`

Default: your home directory + /bettersense-work-reflections

Platform	Default path
macOS / Linux	`~/bettersense-work-reflections`
Windows (PowerShell)	`$HOME\bettersense-work-reflections`
Windows (WSL)	`~/bettersense-work-reflections` (same as Linux)

Controls where all bettersense reflection data lives. Override if you want data on an encrypted volume, a different disk, or a non-standard location.

You don’t need to create the directory yourself — user-profile creates it on first run, with a .gitignore and privacy README inside.

macOS / Linux

# Set for the current session only:
export BETTERSENSE_WORK_REFLECTIONS_HOME="$HOME/Encrypted/bettersense-work-reflections"

# Persist across sessions — zsh (macOS default since Catalina):
echo 'export BETTERSENSE_WORK_REFLECTIONS_HOME="$HOME/Encrypted/bettersense-work-reflections"' >> ~/.zshrc

# Persist across sessions — bash (Linux default, older macOS):
echo 'export BETTERSENSE_WORK_REFLECTIONS_HOME="$HOME/Encrypted/bettersense-work-reflections"' >> ~/.bashrc

Windows (PowerShell — native)

# Set for the current PowerShell session only:
$env:BETTERSENSE_WORK_REFLECTIONS_HOME = "$HOME\Encrypted\bettersense-work-reflections"

# Persist across sessions (user scope, no admin required):
[System.Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable(
    'BETTERSENSE_WORK_REFLECTIONS_HOME',
    "$HOME\Encrypted\bettersense-work-reflections",
    'User'
)

# Or using setx (cmd.exe / PowerShell):
setx BETTERSENSE_WORK_REFLECTIONS_HOME "%USERPROFILE%\Encrypted\bettersense-work-reflections"

Windows (WSL)

If you’re running Claude Code inside WSL, follow the Linux instructions above. The WSL home directory (~/) is separate from your Windows home directory (%USERPROFILE%). If you want the data accessible from both environments, point to a path inside /mnt/c/Users/<name>/:

export BETTERSENSE_WORK_REFLECTIONS_HOME="/mnt/c/Users/YOUR_USERNAME/bettersense-work-reflections"

When to override

Encrypted volume. If you’re keeping candid notes about real colleagues, an encrypted volume is a reasonable precaution.
Cloud sync exclusion. If your home directory syncs to iCloud, OneDrive, or Dropbox and you don’t want reflection data going there.
Custom organization. Some users prefer ~/.local/share/bettersense/ (Linux XDG) or a dedicated notes directory.

Moving existing data after changing the path

Move the directory first, then set the variable. If you set the variable first, the skills look in the new location and won’t find your existing files.

macOS / Linux:

mv ~/bettersense-work-reflections ~/Encrypted/bettersense-work-reflections
export BETTERSENSE_WORK_REFLECTIONS_HOME="$HOME/Encrypted/bettersense-work-reflections"

Windows (PowerShell):

Move-Item -Path "$HOME\bettersense-work-reflections" -Destination "$HOME\Encrypted\bettersense-work-reflections"
$env:BETTERSENSE_WORK_REFLECTIONS_HOME = "$HOME\Encrypted\bettersense-work-reflections"

`BETTERSENSE_TEAM_HOME`

Optional. Location of the shared, git-backed team workspace used by the team-workspace skill for collaborative artifacts (charters, strategy docs, decision records). This is a separate repository from your private reflections — the separation is what keeps personal notes from ever being committed to a shared repo. Suggested default: ~/bettersense-team. Set it only if you use team mode; see Using bettersense as a team.

`WINS_NUDGE_THRESHOLD_DAYS`

Optional. Days without a logged win before the built-in wins-cadence monitor nudges you once (default 14). The cooldown window matches the threshold. See Scheduling routines.

That’s the full set

bettersense doesn’t require API keys or tokens. Beyond the three optional variables above, MCP integrations (PostHog, Datadog, Stripe, etc.) for product-pulse are configured through Claude Code’s MCP settings, not through bettersense-specific environment variables.